History of the Jews in Portugal
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The history of the Jews in Portugal is directly related to Sephardi history, a Jewish ethnic division that represents communities who have originated in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, but also Morocco). Sephardi Jews do not exactly match with those who claim to be Sephardi in the modern state of Israel (mostly North African or Eastern Mediterranean Jews). Compare, by contrast, to the Ashkenazi Jews.
Jewish populations have existed on the area even before the country was established, back to the Roman era. With the fall of the Roman Empire, Jews were persecuted by the Visigoths and other northern European Christian kingdoms who controlled the area then on.
In 711, the Moorish invasion of the Iberian Peninsula was seen by the Jewish population as a liberation, and marked as the beginning of the Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain and Portugal.
The Muslim kingdom of Al-andalus was the most advanced in the whole world of that era, and there was a remarkable tolerance between Muslim rulers and Christian and Jewish populations. Trade flourished, and this was a time of intensive cultural and philosophical development that called Jews from all over Europe to settle in the Iberian Peninsula. This is now seen as a major step to the later Renaissance in all over Europe.
In the 12th century, the Christian kingdoms of the north mountainous areas of the Iberian Peninsula started a long military campaign against the Muslim invaders south, the Reconquista. This represented the birth of the Portuguese nation, who was built with swords from north to south. The Jews, once they knew the Arab language, were used by the Portuguese as both spies and diplomats on this campaign that took centuries. This granted them respect from the Portuguese, although there were always prejudice from both Christians and Jews from the north, against the Al-andalus Sephardi Jews. Even though, Jewish families kept their lands, houses, vineyards and businesses through the new Christian era.
Until the 15th century, Jews occupied prominent places in Portuguese political and economical life. They also had an active role in the Portuguese culture, and they kept their reputation of diplomats and merchants. By this time, Lisbon, Évora and Belmonte were home to important Jewish communities. Then, in 1497, under the pressure of newly born Christian Spain, Manuel I of Portugal passed a decree demanding all Jewish to convert to Christianity, or to leave the country. Hard times followed for the Portuguese Jews, with the massacre of 5.000 individuals in Lisbon, 1506, and the later and even more relevant establishment of the Portuguese Inquisition in 1536.
Many Portuguese Jews, dozens of thousands, left the country to Amsterdam, Thessaloniki, Constantinople, France, Morocco, Brazil, Curaçao and the Antilles. All of these places flourished with the arrival of the Portuguese Jews, who left lasting cultural effects that can be noticed today, like the use of the Ladino language by some Jewish communities in Turkey, or the Portuguese based dialects of the Antilles. The Netherlands, though, was the place that most won with the Portuguese Inquisition, owing its golden age to the arrival of the Portuguese Jews.
But many Jews decided to stay in Portugal. A significant number converted to Christianity as a mere formality, practicing their Jewish faith in secret. These were known as the Cristãos Novos, New Christians, although they were never seen as true Christians by the Portuguese. They adopted Portuguese surnames, that can be found by significant portions of the present Portuguese population, leading many to the belief that there is a large amount of Portuguese people with Jewish roots. The most popular names are Pereira, Oliveira, Castro, Cardoso, Lima and Pinto. The Jewish community of Belmonte chose a more radical solution, vanishing from any social life and practicing their faith in secret. Known as the Marranos, they have survived until today by the practice of intermarriage and few cultural contact with the outside world. Only recently they have established contact with the international Jewish community, which has brought a lot of attention to this mountainous town of central Portugal.
[edit] World War II
A new chapter of Jews in Portugal was marked by World War II. The Portuguese dictatorship of Salazar decided not to go to war on the German side maintaining neutrality in World War II. Although kept under considerable pressure by the Nazis, which included the sinking of Portuguese merchant ships, Portugal maintained long standing treaties with England dating from 1373 (Anglo-Portuguese Alliance) and 1386 (Treaty of Windsor). Even while under close German watch, Lisbon became a safe haven to Jews from all over Europe. At the outbreak of World War II, Jewish refugees from Central Europe were granted "resident" status. After the German invasion of France, Portugal adopted a liberal visa policy allowing thousands of Jewish refugees to enter the country. As the war progressed, Portugal gave entry visas to those coming via rescue operations, on the condition that Portugal would only be used as a transit point due to German pressure and the presence of Nazi spies in Portugal. Portugal also joined other neutral countries in the efforts made to save Hungarian Jewry. More than 100,000 Jews and refuges were able to flee Nazi Germany into freedom via Lisbon. By the early 1940s, there were hundreds of thousands of Jews arriving in Lisbon and leaving weeks later, to the United States. Of those, only a minority decided to stay in Portugal. All of Portugal’s Jews and Jewish refugees living there survived the war.
[edit] Today
As of today, Jews enjoy a peaceful life in Portugal. There are three synagogues in the country, in Lisbon, Porto and Belmonte, and several places were the Hebrew community meets. There are a series of kosher products being produced in Portugal, most notably, wine.
It is hard to say how many Jews live in Portugal as of 2006. The Portuguese census estimates a Jewish population of 5000 individuals. CIA's World Fact Book refers a smaller number of a thousand Jews, mainly central European Holocaust survivors. But the Marranos, though, may represent the remainder.
Some Portuguese personalities are known Jews or Jew descents, most notably Esther Mucznik (leader of the Israelite Community of Lisbon), the award winning photographer Daniel Blaufuks, and the former President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio, whose grandmother was a Moroccan Jew.
[edit] Famous Jews
Famous Jews from Portugal:
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